Nicotine, Secondhand Smoke and InfantsSmoking outside the home still exposes infants to
nicotine

March 4, 2004

Although you may not smoke, you may be exposed to the chemicals in tobacco
smoke. How? You may breathe in the smoke given off by the burning end of
a cigarette or the smoke exhaled from a smoker. This smoke is called
secondhand smoke.

Lung cancer and cardiovascular problems in non-smokers have been linked to
secondhand smoke. Children exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely
to suffer from lung diseases, ear infections and asthma. Many smokers
believe that they can protect their children from tobacco smoke if they
smoke away from their kids, for example, by smoking outside their homes.
A new study from researchers at San Diego State University and the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that these parents may
NOT be offering much protection to
their children from secondhand smoke.

The researchers studied 49 households with children less than one year
old. These households were divided into three types:

No exposure (non-smoking) control group (17 households): all
residents were non-smokers for at least one year; no visitors smoked in
the home for 30 days before the study.

Indirect exposure group (17 households): the mother smoked
every day; all cigarettes were NOT smoked in the same room or in a car
with an infant. In 14 of these 17 households, all cigarette smoking was
done outside the house. Most (76%) of the mothers in this group said that
their infants were not exposed to tobacco smoke.

Direct exposure group (15 households): the mother smoked
every day; at least 20 cigarettes per week must have been inside the home;
at least one cigarette per day must have been smoked at home in the same
room as the infant.

The amounts of nicotine in the air, dust, on furniture and on the finger
of the mothers' index fingers were measured. Urine and hair samples from
the babies were also collected and tested for nicotine and continine.
(Continine is a chemical the body produces when it breaks down
nicotine.)

Results

Higher amounts of nicotine were found in the air, on furniture
surfaces and in dust in the homes of the indirect and direct exposure
groups than in the homes of the no exposure (non-smoking) group. The
nicotine levels in the living rooms and bedrooms of the direct exposure
group were many times higher than those in the rooms of the indirect
exposure group. (No nicotine was detected on
surfaces and in dust in the homes of the no exposure
group.)

Infants who lived in households where they were exposed directly to
tobacco smoke had higher levels of continine in their urine and higher
levels of nicotine in their hair than infants in the indirectly exposed
group or the no exposure group. Mothers in both the indirect exposure and
direct exposure groups had similar levels of nicotine on their fingers.
(No nicotine was found on the fingers of mothers
in the homes of the no exposure group.)

Household Contamination by Secondhand Smoke

The results from this study show that secondhand smoke can
contaminate a house even if cigarettes are smoked outside. Moreover,
nicotine levels in babies who live in houses where people smoke outside
are much higher than in babies who live with non-smokers.

Babies who live with smokers may be exposed to contaminated particles from
secondhand smoke in several ways. First, infants may inhale the smoke
from a cigarette or the exhaled air from a smoker. Even if cigarettes are
not smoked near a baby, cigarette fumes may contaminate dust that settles
in carpets, on toy and furniture surfaces and on the floor. These objects
can remain contaminated for several months! Because babies spend a lot of
time crawling on the floor and put toys in the mouths, they are especially
at risk to ingest this contaminated dust. Smokers may also contaminate
their homes by bringing in clothing exposed to smoke.

Protecting Non-smokers

The data suggest that only a complete ban on smoking will protect a
household from secondhand smoke contamination. Even people who tried to
protect their babies from secondhand smoke by smoking outside still
contaminated their homes with nicotine. As the researchers write:

"...smoking outdoors, in different rooms,
or when non-smokers are absentdoes not completely protect non-smokers
from tobacco smoke."

The researchers propose several steps to reduce the risks of secondhand
smoke to non-smokers:

Homes, cars and furniture of smokers should be decontaminated.

Tenants of apartments and offices and new owners of cars and houses
should be told if previous tenants and owners were smokers.